Originally published at: A couple bought two Warhol pieces from a Florida gallery for $125,000 — a price too good to be true, literally | Boing Boing
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What’s the shortest episode of White Collar, Alex?
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I remember an episode of Antiques Roadshow in which a punter brought in a large Chinese statue to find out if it was an antique bronze. The expert told him it as a modern, resin replica; but a very nice one. The punter was happy with his purchase, and the expert wondered how the manufacturers could produce and distribute such a weighty item for a reasonable price. The moral, I think, is, only buy a piece of art if you like it; buying something at a high price, because of who you are told made it, seems like a mugs game to me.
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A lot of the pieces credited to Warhol were actually screen printed by his assistants. There’s a reason his studio was dubbed “The Factory.”
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Yeah, and you know that’s exactly why these people are buying these, not because they like them so much. It’s just not possible. E.g. Warhol’s piece is easily available in reproduction, and since the work is basically a greeting card print (which is how it’s often used) the reproduction is identical.
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Which was kinda Warhol’s whole schtick, really. People getting scammed for fakes of his is kind of the ultimate endorsement of his work.
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Hmmm…
It’s my understanding that many estates have given up on chasing down fakes due to the enormous costs involved therefore making it easier to circulate more fakes.
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Good point. I’m a fan of this piece of work from the talented R. Mutt.
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As an art gallery owner, I fully embrace this sentiment.
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When Dorothy Podber shot Andy Warhol, one of the bullets went through a stack of freshly printed Marilyns, right in the forehead. Recently one the the “Shot Marilyns” sold for $150,000,000. One of the few pieces of art I ever really coveted, but geesh, that price is ridiculous.
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Would this guy lie to you??
Maybe not. But this guy would:
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We have a house full of paintings, and we know who painted them, so we’re good,
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Podber didn’t shoot Warhol, just the Marilyns, in 1964. Valerie Solanas shot Warhol in 1968.
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Could it also be that he’s trying to launder money? Or perhaps that his customers are? The art market is purported to be a hotbed for this activity, and smaller sums changing hands might be less likely to grab attention.
Regardless, it’s astonishing that he believed he wouldn’t get caught selling obvious fakeries.
Edit: somehow missed the final line of the writeup.
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He was definitely laundering money, it’s on the charge sheet.
Can’t stop thinking about how he straight up advertised master paintings he doesn’t own on his website. Shit that is on the walls in the Warhol Museum!
The Purge is happening, but it’s random which norms and laws can now be broken. Crooks are finding out, one by one.
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Good to know. Glad I saved myself $150,000,000.
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and i bought the Solanas Manifest for, let’s see … probably strike all seven zeros from your figure.
You were ripped off. 15¢ would be too much for me.
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Any Pittsburgher’s trying to sell counterfeit Warhol shoe illustrations on street corners?
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they’re everywhere, man
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